Introduction
Imagine yourself walking to school, alone; a wave or a nod to someone you know from class, but you continue shuffling along in your typically solitary fashion with just your thoughts for company. Then you notice a large, unblinking eye peering at you from the dark recesses of a row of low shrubs lining your path. Before you can adequately process it, the eye pops from concealment attached to a figure in flowing robes or an indistinct shade that pours out like spilled ink. Within the span of single breath it is upon you, trying desperately to consume your corporeal form for one ill-defined reason or another. Got it? Now you know how pretty much every chapter of Natsume's Book of Friends begins. And the formulaic pattern doesn't end there. Yuki Midorikawa's manga series is told episodically. Every chapter is a self-contained story; Midorikawa herself describes her tome as a series of diary entries from a boy, Takashi Natsume, with a seemingly unique set of problems that sets him apart from the average troubled teenager. Natsume, you see, sees dead people.
The dead people are called yōkai, actually, and Natsume has been seeing them since he was a kid, which has proved problematic for the extended network of relatives that has tried to care for him since he was orphaned as a young boy. Now, however, he has landed on the doorstep of the kindly Fujiwaras, distant relatives whose lives he is determined not to upset by his frequent interactions with the spirit world, a fact he explains at the beginning of every chapter. There are a lot of things Natsune repeats at the beginning of every chapter, an artifact left over from the serialized way in which the manga was originally published in the Japanese shōjo magazine LaLa DX. He repeatedly introduces, for example, Nyanko Sensei, a porcelain cat statue that has become animated as a result of being possessed by a yōkai who desires to act as his bodyguard while biding his time until he can take possession of Natsume's Book of Friends. Which brings us to the Book itself.
The Book of Friends is a volume of contracts with yōkai compiled by Natsume's late grandmother Reiko, also gifted with the unfortunate ability to see spirits, that binds their souls to the service of whoever possesses the book. Since Natsume inherited the book when his grandmother died, he has become the reluctant master to countless yōkai less than thrilled at the prospect of being bound in servitude to a human master. So reluctant is he, in fact, that he has determined to free the soul of every spirit in the book as he finds them. On occasion he is forced to exploit his possession of the yōkai to save his own neck by summoning assistance from the spirit world. Couple the constant threat of violence from hostile spirits with the reality that only he can see them and his determination to conceal that fact from family and friends and you have one burdened, conflicted high school student. But at least he takes it all in stride.
Highlights
It's easy to imagine the genesis of this story. It's the same multi-faceted angst at the heart of many manga stories involving teenagers: a high school student isolated from his or her peers and forced to find some rationalization for their inability to find commonality with others, usually in the form of a singular burden enforcing their isolation. As manga readers we've been here before. If there is one attribute that sets Takashi Natsume apart from other central characters of his ilk, it is his fierce resolve not to share his burden with others. With the Fujiwaras he feels he has finally found a home, a stabilizing center of gravity where he is confident he can finish his teenage years and construct the foundation for some semblance of a normal life, intrusive yōkai notwithstanding. The last thing he wants is angry spirits stepping in and queering the deal. Trouble is, every chapter finds Natsume running afoul of one yōkai after another, usually in sight of other students or adults who watch the odd boy react to things they cannot see. It's easy to see why his reputation for being troubled follows him from place to place. When asked, Natsume would rather dismiss the behavior with a "Oh, it was nothing" lie than risk admitting to anything that would place the stability of his new life in jeopardy. It is this fine line he walks that makes for the promise of an interesting story. Unfortunately, the mechanics of telling that story cripple an otherwise worthy tale.
As shōjo manga, the thin stroke art style is to be expected. In fact, it works well with the subject matter. Natsume is meek and reactive, governed by the fear of being found out and the empathy he feels for the souls kept in thrall to the Book of Friends, so the fine, almost imperceptible lines used to draw him make him seem as ethereal as the spirits. But for a story with dark, supernatural themes, the use of contrast is clumsy at best. The screen-and-tone work is a mixed bag, sometimes overused and oftentimes not used at all, making for many panels that look more suited to a four-panel strip in a newspaper comic section than a ten-dollar manga title. Midorikawa-san's panel composition of choice is usually flat and sparsely populated with assets and some of the pages get so crowded with small inset panels that don't contribute anything that the action becomes hard to follow. I found myself repeatedly retracing my steps to get re-oriented to what was actually going on, wading through panels filled with effects and odd little dutch-angled insets that were more of a hindrance than a help. Throw in some rather choppy story-telling and you have a manga title that can be a challenge to get through.
It's not all doom and gloom, however; some chapters are better than others. The first chapter, dealing with a group of high school students daring each other to enter a haunted school house in the middle of the night (with predictable results), does offer some of the best artwork and an effective use of contrast that is inexplicably missing from other chapters. Another chapter involving a famous film star with abilities similar to Natsume provides some of the strongest character development of the second volume and goes some way toward staking out Natsume's creed when it comes to his dealings with the yōkai. There is some comedy to be found here and there, though used sparingly and usually in the form of a sight gag, but it does manage to humanize both Natsume and the story as a whole.
Overview
Natsume's Book of Friends is a flawed title. An interesting premise is erratically executed both in art and story-telling terms. Natsume himself has the makings of an interesting character and there are small moments here and there in the second volume that offer promise, but mostly he confronts events with stoic passivity, like a rock in a tidal basin letting it all wash over him. He is, in a word, bloodless. If Midorikawa-san accomplished anything in this second volume it was to show us glimpses of where this tale may take us. There are many names in the Book of Friends and Natsume is determined to return each and every one. That there are those who would help him and those who want the power that he possesses suggests great conflict to come. It is only unfortunate that we did not get to experience more of this conflict here.
Star Rating
ComicsOnline rates Natsume's Book of Friends Volume Two 2 1/2 porcelain cat statues out of 5.
